Julius - not that he actually knew that his name was Julius - woke up when he felt the person who had been lying next to him move. One of the sheets dropped to the floor, and he drew another to cover his naked body. The room wasn't cold, but perhaps it was simply out of chastity - never mind the fact that the other occupant of the room was male as well.

J, as he was called, glanced around the room when the other man turned the lights on. The place looked unfamiliar to him, and it took him a moment to remember he was in a hotel room. His companion - a man called Genya Arikado - was in town on a business trip, and J had come here to meet him.

The clock on the nightstand told him it was only a little over 5 AM, and he groaned. Guess I'm just getting too old, he thought to himself, not really wanting to get up. Arikado was already up though, and J recalled that he had promised to do something. Staying in bed was inexcusable.

His companion was getting dressed now. J yawned and sat up reluctantly. "Why the heck did you have to choose the morning flight?" He complained. "And why the heck did I promise to take you to the airport?"

"Mostly because it was the first suitable flight available," the other man replied calmly. "But I'm afraid I cannot answer your second question. Perhaps you wanted to see me off?"

"As if I actually wanted an answer to that," J mumbled. "Do you always have to take everything so literally?"

Arikado turned to look at the younger man. Though J looked physically older, Arikado had many years on the other man. J had no idea about that; not after the year 1999 anyway when the man had lost his memory. Arikado visited J as often as he could. To J, however, Arikado was just someone he had run into in the hospital. J often told him that somehow, he felt... familiar. Arikado sometimes regretted that he couldn't tell the truth about their true identities, but it was better this way.

"Literally?" He inquired with an amused smile on his face. "You did ask."

J muttered something about his friend trying to be smart and put his feet down on the floor. He frowned and wiped hair off his eyes. Another look on the clock confirmed that it sure was too early.

"I can call the Airport Taxi Service," Arikado offered while putting a shirt on.

"Nah. I need to go home anyway, so might as well take you to the airport first." J got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

When he returned, Arikado was sitting in front of mirror and brushing his hair. J picked up his clothes from a nearby chair and started getting dressed. He yawned again and put his shirt on, wishing he could have slept a couple of more hours. He was fifty years old, damn it all, although he usually didn't really feel that old.

Except in the mornings, he thought bitterly, glancing at Arikado's direction. And when he wants to...

He froze and blinked. When he looked again, what he had seen was gone; or rather... it was there, but it hadn't been there just a moment ago. Arikado's reflection in the mirror...

The black-haired man turned around. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's just me seeing things. Must be the age... starting to have an effect on my eyes and all that." J finished buttoning his shirt and took a couple of steps closer. He stopped behind Arikado and took the hairbrush from him. His own hair was a mess, and he intended to do something about that.

"Is that so..." The other man stated. He knew very well what J had seen; or, not seen. Luckily he had noticed in time and managed to restore what was a simple illusion. Although he couldn't use his vampire powers here, he did have control over simple things like this. In reality, he couldn't see his own reflection in the mirror at all.

He picked up a small container from the desk and opened it; it held his colored contact lenses. He had come up with an explanation that involved him actually having brown eyes but some very rare eye disease had changed the color when he was young; J had never questioned that. Besides, Arikado had had enough time to come up with excuses like that; he had a couple of stories to explain his natural eye color.

Explaining his natural hair color to J hadn't been nearly as simple. Arikado hadn't really thought that anyone would notice until he had made the mistake of taking a shower with the other man; sure, he dyed the hair on his head, but...

"They say that eyes are the window of the soul," J commented all of a sudden. "They show what you really are... one could say they reflect even your deepest secrets to those who look into them. Don't you feel like you're trying to hide something when you use those?"

Arikado raised an eyebrow. "Do you think so? I've never thought about it that way."

"Well, metaphorically speaking of course." J put the hairbrush down on the desk and went to get the rest of his clothes. "I'm not saying that you are. Ignore me, I'm just mumbling nonsense again. No need to take it literally."

"Sometimes, I have to wonder if you analyze things a little too much," Arikado said. He took a moment to put the contact lenses on. "Not that I could blame you."

"Maybe I do." J walked in front of the mirror to tie his hair. Once he was done, he leaned down to kiss Arikado on the forehead. He took a quick look into the light blue eyes before he moved away to pick up the small bag he had with him.

Arikado went to pack as well. J was done in less than a minute, and he sat on the bed, his eyes idly following the other man.

But then... He thought. Why do I have the feeling that I was right?

Author's notes:

So my theory obviously is that pre-game, Julius was having an affair with Arikado. You may kill me now.

Written for the writing challenge thing on the CV Fanfiction LJ Community. Theme was "Mirrors"; well there's a mirror right there as well as stuff about reflections.

- Elmina (June, 2005)